


Fairytale's End

by Ravens_Are_My_Sidekicks



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending, Post-Canon, minimal angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravens_Are_My_Sidekicks/pseuds/Ravens_Are_My_Sidekicks
Summary: To revolutionize the world, first the fairytale needs to end (aka another take on what happens after the series finale)
Relationships: Himemiya Anthy & Tenjou Utena, Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Fairytale's End

**Anthy**

She opened her eyes. She was back in her old dormitory, the one she shared with Utena. Morning sunlight streamed in through the window. She’s not sure how much time has passed, it could have been a day, it could have been eternity. Time had no meaning in Ohtori. She was dressed in her school uniform, glasses and hair neatly in place. Chu Chu chirped and hopped on her shoulder as she made her way outside. 

The chairman’s tower still loomed in the distance, with no swords or dueling arenas in sight. Students passed her on their way to class, chattering away, wrapped up in their own world. On the surface, nothing has changed. 

Anthy paused for a moment beneath an archway. She reached out of the shadows so the gentle morning light touched her finger tips. Something shifted within her, like a cat stretching after a long nap. Or perhaps a dragon. The fabric of the world trembled around her. 

“Chu…” Whimpered Chu Chu cowering on her shoulder. 

“It’s alright Chu Chu.” She murmured, stroking his fur. “Everything will be alright.” 

  
  


**Utena** ****

She opened her eyes. The room is unfamiliar, but it’s because she only moved into the dormitory yesterday. Today is the first day of the semester at her new school, and if she doesn’t hurry up and get out of bed she’ll be late for her first class. She hopped out of bed, rushing to brush her teeth and get dressed. 

It wasn’t until she was grabbing her school bag and halfway out the door when she noticed the ring on her finger. She was sure it belonged to her and knew it was important, but she could not remember where it came from. Did someone give it to her? She wore it on the fourth finger of her left hand… so perhaps it was an engagement ring? She remembered having some good friends in her previous school (it was a pity she had to transfer away), but can’t remember any significant relationships. 

She was broken out of her reveries by the sound of school bells. 

“Oh crap I’m really going to be late!” 

She sprinted down the stairs, putting the mystery out of her mind. 

**Anthy** ****

As she walked out of her brother’s room (and out of his life), her clothing changed to something more suited for travelling. A suitcase appeared in her hand. It's convenient how Ohtori bent to her every will, but that in itself is a trap. It’s easier to live where you know every rule, where all the paths were predetermined for you. 

She waited a moment for Chu Chu to say goodbye to his friend, before stepping outside the school gates. With every step, the magic around her felt weaker. The road got dirtier, the trees less perfectly straight. Unsightly power lines blocked the sky. Clouds occasionally drifted over the sun without her permission. 

Eventually she came across a small town. It was only when she was passing a cafe when she realized she was tired and hungry. Her feet ached in her shoes, and her stomach rumbled as the smell of freshly cooked food. She entered the cafe and sat down with a sigh of relief. 

“What can I get you Miss?”

“Tea please…” She glanced at the menu. “And some eggs with toast.” She had a feeling shaved ice won't sustain her in this world.

As she ate (and fed Chu Chu half her toast), she sorted through what’s in her pockets. A japanese passport. It stated her age as 18, born in Tokyo. Next, a wallet with drivers license, bank card, and handful of bills. Tucked within the billfold were registration papers for the marmoset “Chu Chu”. The last item was a neatly rolled up high school graduation certificate from Ohtori Academy. 

“It looks like we are all set Chu Chu.” She dusted off some crumbs he left off her shoulder. The cafe waitress gave her an odd look for talking to a monkey. She gave her a pleasant smile. “Can you direct me to the nearest bus station?”

  
  


**Utena** ****

She was having weird dreams. Well, they weren’t exactly dreams, because they didn’t always come at night. She would be going about her day and suddenly see something that wasn’t there. She passed by some boys play fighting with broomsticks and suddenly they were wielding real swords and wearing roses. A girl in a red dress was suddenly wearing an elaborate red gown with a crown. She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror with epaulets and frills on her uniform.

She asked her aunt about it the next time she called. 

“Visions? Well, you always did love fairytales. You always talked about a prince as a child.”

“A prince?”

“Yes, you said he gave you your ring. Of course I always assumed a family friend gave it to you, and you made up the story to go with it, kind of like an imaginary friend. You haven’t mentioned him though since you’ve left for boarding school.”

“Oh I see.” 

Her prince, it does feel familiar, although she can’t recall ever knowing one or talking to her aunt about it. 

“Is everything ok?”

“Everything is great, I joined the track team and we think we might make nationals this year…” The conversation turned to more ordinary topics and Utena put the visions out of her mind. 

**Anthy**

For the first few months, she travelled from town to town, getting used to the ordinariness of the world. It was strange when things don’t happen for a reason. The bus is late, a stranger stops to give her directions, it rains when she doesn’t have an umbrella. The world operates on its own whims with events no longer given meaning by herself or her brother. She was wandering with no knowledge of the future, with no destiny to follow. It was comforting. 

Her magic started to fade. It started to as soon as she stepped out of the school gates. The longer she was away, the more tenuous the link became. One day she woke up feeling the last bit of magic slip away. “It is finished.” She whispered to Chu Chu. It was time to go back. 

**Utena**

She dreamed of crumbling castles. She woke up gasping. Memories flooded in, doubling over one another. She confronted an upperclassman for mistreating her friend and won a kendo match against him. No, they dueled in an arena with real swords beneath a castle in the sky. Princes, Princesses, and Rose brides. Sword in her hand, sword through her back, swords tearing apart everything. The real memories washed away the fake ones until everything came back once. 

Utena was a woman of action (sometimes too much action and too little thinking). So the very next day, she got on the first bus that took her towards Ohori. It was surprisingly easy to get there, a few hours by bus, and then a taxi that took her to the school gates. Nothing seemed weird or out of the ordinary. The taxi driver chatted to her happily about how he often ferries students and their families between the school and the town and isn’t it nice to have such a prestigious school in the area. She nodded at him absently as her palms got sweatier the closer they got to the school. Her last memories there were not very pleasant. 

She was startled when the cab pulled to a stop. 

“Here we are Miss, Ohtori academy.”

“This is it?” Utena stared. There was no white tower dominating the skyline. The symbol on the wrought iron gate was of a phoenix rising towards the sky. 

“Is there another Ohtori academy?” 

“No, this is it Miss.” 

She paid the driver and walked in a daze. It certainly looked familiar. The girls in their puffy sleeved blouses and boys in that terrible green uniform. The white buildings arched gracefully above her in classic european style. 

“Stop!” 

She cringed at the high pitched shout. 

“You there! Why are you walking around out of uniform!”

“I am wearing a uniform.” She replied automatically. 

“That is a BOY’S uniform! Come with me to at once! I am going to report it to the chairman!”

Utena clenched her fist at the wave of revulsion that came over her, but the guidance counselor already had a hand firmly on her arm and dragging her away. 

They did not go to an elevator (the tower is no longer there), but merely turned a corner and she was unceremoniously shoved into an office.

“Chairman! Look at this! Another student violating the standards of this academy! How can we maintain the prestige of this school if…”

Utena tuned her out when she realized the chairman was not Akio. It was a balding, middle aged man with a resigned look on his face, putting up a placating hand in hopes of shortening the guidance counselor's rant. 

“I understand your concerns, but we must strike a balance between the self expression of our students and standards at this school. Now this young lady… where did she go?!”

Utena raced of the chairman’s office, hope suddenly thumping painfully in her chest. If Akio is no longer here, then that means… that means....

The rose garden was gone. In place of the glass greenhouse was an open courtyard filled with a variety of local flowers. She walked to the center, running her fingers against soft petals of a azalea. It was just an ordinary flower, there were no brilliantly colored roses awashed with the scent of fairytale princes. 

“Utena.” 

She whirled around at the familiar voice. It was Anthy, but very different from how she remembered her. It was not simply the lack of glasses and a different outfit, she has never seen her eyes so full of emotions. She stood at the edge of the garden, her hands clasped nervously in front of her. 

“Chuuuuu!” 

Utena was tackled by a tiny ball of fur. 

“Chu Chu! Oh I missed you too!” She stroked his back as he tried to hug her with his tiny arms. 

“Himemiya…” There was so many things she wanted to ask. What happened to her? What happened to Ohtori? Was she free?

“You look older.” Was what she blurted out. 

Anthy looked startled, and then broke out into light laughter. Utena had never heard her laugh like that. She realized it was the first time she had heard Anthy really laugh with joy, and not as the rose bride playing her part in a play. 

  
  


**Anthy**

“Yes, I think it came with growing up.” Anthy finally came forward to stand in front of her. She raised a hand, and hesitated.. 

“Do you remember…”

“I remember everything.” Utena caught her hand before she could let it drop. Anthy felt the press of her ring, the metal warmed by her hand. 

“Ah, of course. The rose crest preserved the link to this world.” Anthy concentrated hard on the rose crest, trying to summon its magic (or her own). But there wasn’t anything there. It was just an ordinary ring, with maybe just a faint impression of a world that was, or a ghost of a prince. 

“Utena, I’m sorry, for everything.” 

Utena shook her head. “Didn’t we go over this before? I’m just as at fault as you were. I wanted to be the one who saved you… I was too blind to see what you really needed… I’m not your prince.”

“No… you are much more. Do not lose your strength and nobility even when you have grown up… that’s what Dios said to you wasn't’ it? He asked you to do what he could not. I hurt you like I hurt him. Deliberately. Selfishly. But you didn’t become Akio… you never lost your faith in me.”

“What happened afterwards in the arena? The last thing I remember was losing you…” .

“You freed my soul from the coffin.” She placed their joined hands on her heart. “It’s back where it belongs. The sword of Dios is no more, I’ve let him go as I should have a long time ago.”

“What about the swords of hatred? Where is Akio?” 

“With no prince to target they have gone back to their masters. Whether they will turn on someone else or fade away… well, that’s for their owners to decide. As for my brother...Come, let me show you something.” She pulled Utena by the hand towards the center of the school. 

In place of the chairman’s tower, there was a graveyard. Anthy led them to a statue near the middle. “The grave of the Prince.” It was a statue of Dios, sitting on the sphere of the world, as Akio had shown her in the dueling arena. 

“This was the place where he died. Where the last remnants of his power remained. From this I created this school where time stood still to preserve the last piece of our paradise lost. When I left, there was nothing left to sustain it, and it started to fade away till nothing was left.”

“What happened Akio?”

“He is gone. He could only exist within Ohtori. He is nothing more than the fragment of a dead prince, there’s no place for him in this world.”

“I’m sorry… You came back to see him didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes I did.” Anthy felt the tears welling up in her eyes trickle down her cheeks. Sometimes she missed the ability to not feel anything. 

“You loved him.” 

“I did. I loved the man he was. The man that died a long time ago.” Utena put her arms around her and she turned to bury her face in her shoulder. 

“Silly isn’t it, that I still miss him.” 

“No, I don’t think it’s silly at all.” Utena whispered, stroking her back. They stood together for a while, mourning a man that never existed.

“So what happens now?” Utena asked. They were waiting outside the gates for the taxi that will take them to the nearest town. 

Anthy watched Chu Chu poke at a snail at their feet. “The path before you has not been laid out. What happens next… you will decide.”

Utena shook her head and grasped her hand. “No…We will decide. Together.”

Her heart was suddenly pounding… and was she blushing? Utena must have seen the look on her face because her cheeks were flushed and she turned away awkwardly to scratch the back of her head. 

“I mean… we have to find a place to stay for the night and since you’ve been there before you might know a good place… and is there a good place for food because I’m starving-”

“I’d like that.”

Anthy interrupted before Utena could ramble on further.

“Huh?” 

“To decide, together.”

“Oh, ok.” Utena was still blushing, but she hadn’t let go of her hand. 

Chu Chu meeped his approval. 

What will they do? Where will they go? The future is very much uncertain. Anthy is looking forward to it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I used my covid enforced staycation to rewatch all of Utena (my favorite anime of all time) and got inspired to write some fic. I always believed in the happy interpretation of what-happened-afterwards. They escape the fairytale world and find each other again. Utena is slightly more grown up, Anthy is slightly more hopeful. The revolution is just a quiet shift in perspective with world shattering consequences for the characters. Do they live happily together every after? That's up to Utena and Anthy to decide :)


End file.
